Better Than First Sight
by steepedinshadows419
Summary: My ID is Gangnam Beauty [kdrama] - Post-Finale - After four years of listening to Woo Young talk about meeting his love at first sight, Hyun Jung decided to give up on anything happening between them. A year later, and she's still not over him. Hyun Jung/Woo Young. One-shot.


**A/N:** This is a fic I wrote for **sendtherain** 's bday ON her bday several weeks back. She introduced me to this show, and I fell in love with it with her. This ship should've had a more concrete getting together (b/c they did in the future! I refuse otherwise!), but where shows fail, fic writers step in. Hopefully more fics will come into this fandom on this site. If you ended up here, and you're still reading this and plan to read the story, thank you and enjoy!

 ***** Many thanks to **sendtherain** for beta'ing for own bday fic. lol.

 ***** I own nothing. No copyright infringement intended.

...

She sees him unexpectedly five years later. That's how things happen with Mi Rae, unexpectedly. Always making her jump and look away awkwardly, struggling to get that next breath while whoever surprised her stands there waiting for her to recover. It makes her blush when that happens with Kyung Seok, but his surprises don't scare the way they did before they got together. Nearly anyone else's still do.

"Kang Mi Rae?"

She doesn't hear it at first, but when it's repeated louder and paired with a man's footsteps, she stops, turns around, and jumps, half of her groceries hopping out of the bag she'd been carrying.

"Oh…oh, no…"

Frantic in a way she thought she wouldn't be – _these are my ingredients for Kyung Seok's dinner tonight!_ – she scrambles to the ground to get all the items back in her bag before they've gathered too much dirt.

The individual trying to get her attention just seconds earlier is down on the ground helping her.

"I'm sorry," he says, a little bit of a laugh in his voice. "I didn't mean to startle you."

She tries to shake it off, though her mind is racing, wondering if she has enough money to purchase new food or if a quick wash will save these ingredients. She just wouldn't tell Kyung Seok about what happened.

"I just saw you, and I thought-" he tried, but she gets to her feet before he can finish.

"It's all right, Senior."

"Senior?" He nearly scoffs. That makes her blush. She tucks a dark lock of her hair behind her ear and avoids making eye contact for a while. "We've both graduated," he adds quickly to avoid further embarrassment for her. "Now I am simply…Woo Young."

The corner of her lips twitches a little, and she nods.

"Woo Young."

"It was you and Hyun Jung who insisted on not being too formal in your first year, remember?"

She smiles a little more at that but merely nods in response.

"I'm interrupting you," he concludes.

She shakes her head. "No, no-"

"It's all right," he assures. "I just thought I recognized you and wanted to say hi. I have said hi, so you should-" He stops mid-sentence and catches a glimpse of the sparkly diamond on her finger, rendering him speechless. "Is that…?"

Mi Rae catches his meaning and blushes fiercely but tells herself she will not push this topic aside. She loves Kyung Seok, and he loves her, and unlike when they first started dating, she doesn't want to hide that from anybody. She wants to share that with the world.

She nods, smiling.

"In June," she tells him.

"And I was not told?" He only half feigns offense. It's September now.

For a moment she's frozen, and then her salvation shines down on her giving her the best excuse.

"I told Hyun Jung!" she says. "I thought she would have told you."

"Oh," he says, and she wishes she knew what that meant.

"I have not seen her for a while…" he trails off. "Almost as long as you." Now he's the one being awkward and embarrassed.

But this new information blindsides Mi Rae. She is very suspicious of her best friend now, since Hyun Jung told her she's kept in touch with Woo Young past graduation, making Mi Rae feel better about not doing so.

But instead of making Woo Young suspicious as well, she comes up with an idea. It's brilliant, she decides, because it will give her an excuse to go back into the grocery store.

"You should come over for dinner tonight," she says.

"Oh no, I couldn't-"

"Kyung Seok would love to see you, I'm sure," she says enthusiastically, though she wonders how likely that is.

"Oh."

"And Hyun Jung will be there too. You can chide her for not telling you about the engagement."

It starts out as a smile but quickly evolves into a laugh. He agrees to come, and she insists he help her in the grocery store. She can come home with him after that, and they can spend the whole evening together, just the four of them, like old times.

She texts Kyung Seok when Woo Young isn't looking to tell him who's coming for dinner. She promptly turns her phone off after that to avoid any protesting on his part. Something is going on between Hyun Jung and Woo Young, and she will not rest until she finds out what it is.

…

Kyung Seok was being suspiciously quiet – more so than usual – ever since he'd gotten the mysterious text from Mi Rae. Apparently, another guest was coming, though he wouldn't tell her who. Hyun Jung pried as much as she could, but there wasn't much she could goad him with. Especially since there was only a small pool of people that Mi Rae could be bringing home with her that knew all three of them.

Hyun Jung kept thinking about one in particular, but she decided not to dwell on him. She hadn't talked to him in well over a year, frankly because she still wasn't over him, and it was exhausting to watch him day after day not see what was right in front of him.

Maybe it wasn't fair of her to claim to be busy and slowly but surely distance herself from him. He was a good friend after all, and of course she wished him all the happiness in the world. But the more he talked about love at first sight being a necessary requirement to whoever he was going to date, the more she had to face facts that he was never going to see her the way she saw him. At least not while he held that mentality.

And so, she'd distanced herself from him and proceeded to glue herself to Mi Rae's side more than usual. Of course, Hyun Jung had her own life and friends and place to live too, but nobody knew her like Mi Rae did. Nobody that she felt as comfortable with or whose company she enjoyed as much. Kyung Seok was always greedy for time with his fiancée, but he'd come to like being around her too, and the three of them grew very close.

She almost forgot about Woo Young entirely, though she was well aware that she immediately shot down every prospective gentleman Mi Rae suggested to her. She wasn't as pretty as Mi Rae, but boys did still take an interest. She was cute and pretty and smart and funny. Her dream to be a rapper was starting to take off – not as quickly as she would have liked, but it was still something she was enjoying. And it was a great distraction.

So when the front door opened and Woo Young followed Mi Rae inside, Hyun Jung felt like she was going to throw up.

"Woo…Woo…"

Mi Rae glanced between the two, saw Woo Young had also not taken a single step forward and managed to pry the grocery bag from his hands as well as shut the door before departing into the kitchen where Kyung Seok quickly followed.

"Hyun Jung," Woo Young said.

His tone wasn't judgmental per se, and not surprised either, but it was a little bit suspicious.

"Senior," she responded, laughing a little nervously, wanting to shoot daggers at her best friend but aware she wasn't near enough to do so.

He shook his head at her.

"Have we grown so far apart that you won't even call me by my name?"

She gulped. This was bad. Very, very bad.

"Mi Rae and Kyung Seok are engaged. Did you know?"

She gulped again. "Mi Rae may have told me."

"She told me you were supposed to tell me. But I haven't heard from you in over a year."

Was he just a little bit…angry? She'd never seen him like this. Honestly, she had no idea her friendship meant so much to him. _Or maybe he's still secretly pining for Mi Rae…_

She stomped on that thought. Kyung Seok and Mi Rae only had eyes for each other, and Woo Young had been one of their strongest supporters since they first got together.

 _Then why…?_

She stomped on that too. She would not dwell on all the why's and if's tonight. She would force a smile, apologize, and enjoy the night with the four of them like they used to.

"I'm sorry?" She winced, hoping that was enough.

Woo Young relaxed, all his tension and anger seemingly gone.

"It's all right," he said. "I know now. Let's celebrate."

He moved past her towards the kitchen. "Do we have champagne?"

Hyun Jung watched him, dumbfounded. Mi Rae popped her head out of the kitchen, and finally she was able to shoot daggers. Mi Rae had some of her own though, and Hyun Jung looked away sheepishly.

This was on her. She shouldn't have lied to her best friend.

…

Mi Rae, ever the compassionate one, forgave Hyun Jung as soon as she found out the reason for her deception.

"I didn't know you still liked him like that," she said.

Hyun Jung shrugged, not knowing what else to say.

"Maybe you should tell him," she suggested.

Her eyes widened, and her mouth fell open. Then she shook her head adamantly.

"What's the worst that could happen?" Mi Rae asked. "You've already unfriended him."

Hyun Jung pursed her lips in irritation and narrowed her eyebrows.

"After dinner you should tell him," Mi Rae said. "Then we will have two things to celebrate."

"But he doesn't like me like that!" she protested.

"Maybe he never considered you."

"That doesn't make me feel better!" she cried.

"Hyun Jung-"

"And he wants love at first sight. He did not love me at first sight, so he will not love me now. He will not even like me."

"He misses you, I can tell," she declared. "And maybe he has changed his philosophy."

Hyun Jung pouted again.

"Tell him after dinner. It will be all right." She patted her arm and left the balcony to go back inside.

Hyun Jung pouted a while longer before realizing it was a bit chilly outside and her stomach was growling.

…

Dinner was unbearable.

The food was good. Mi Rae had cooked. Woo Young had even assisted a little bit and Kyung Seok didn't even mind. But he watched Hyun Jung like a hawk, which definitely put her on edge. By the time the alcohol was brought out, Mi Rae was thoroughly absorbed in her fiancé sitting beside her and enjoying catching up with Woo Young.

Kyung Seok, as absorbed in Mi Rae as ever, interrupted whatever they were talking about. Hyun Jung tuned it out long ago, only having eaten half her plate and resolving to play with her food.

"Let's go outside," Kyung Seok said, taking Mi Rae by surprise.

"What?" Wide-eyed, she let him lead her outside.

When Woo Young tried to get up, Kyung stopped him saying, "You keep Hyun Jung company."

"I'm sure we can all go outsi-" Woo Young tried, but Kyung Seok was unmoved.

"Stay."

Woo Young gulped, forever intimidated by Kyung Seok's moments of serious insistence, and settled back against the couch. After their hosts had left the room, choosing instead to take in the moonlight, he looked over to Hyun Jung sitting beside him.

"Did you enjoy your food?" he asked jovially.

She glanced over at him and nodded, then redirected her attention to her plate where her chopsticks were still moving around the meat and rice.

"You didn't eat very much," he observed.

"I wasn't very hungry," she said, her stomach promptly growling after she said that.

Holding back a laugh, a thought occurred to him.

"Did you not like my cooking?"

Her eyes widened, and she turned to him.

"No, no, no! Your cooking is great! I loved it!" She started to force some food into her mouth, then stopped when she nearly choked on some rice.

He patted her back to clear her passages and this time let the laugh out when she downed three shot glasses of alcohol.

"You can hold your liquor better than I can," he said.

She looked over at him, took in the color of his eyes, the curve of his smile, and his easy-going posture as he stretched beside her, and knew she was doomed.

"What is it?" he asked, and she set down her chopsticks dramatically.

Mi Rae was right. It was now or never. What was the worst thing that could happen?

"Woo Young, I like you," she said grudgingly.

He blinked. "What?"

"I like you," she repeated. "I like you the way Mi Rae and Kyung Seok like each other."

For a few unbearable moments he could do nothing but stare at her.

"You…are confessing? To me?"

She squeezed her eyes tightly shut. _Did he have to make it sound so unbelievable?_

"How long have you liked me for?" he asked, seemingly spellbound.

"Since we met," she admitted. "Since I helped you find your new apartment in my first year."

He sank back against the couch, speechless. Silence descended.

"You don't have to say anything," she said when she couldn't stand it anymore. "I know you don't feel the same way." He didn't move. "I don't know why I told you. I've just been holding it in so long…"

He turned to look at her.

"This is why you stopped talking to me?"

She couldn't tell if he was angry or shocked or something else, so she pulled her knees up to her chin and nodded, not facing him.

He blew out a sigh. She didn't know what that meant either.

"I had no idea," he said, seemingly talking to himself.

She scrambled to her feet.

"You can just forget I said anything."

He looked up at her in disbelief.

"We'll just forget it, okay?" He stared at her, frozen. "Okay, great."

She turned around, her long hair whooshing with her, and she headed straight for the balcony where she knew she'd find safety in Mi Rae's arms. She could deal with annoying Kyung Seok if only she could get out of this mortifying situation.

…

Woo Young was still sitting alone by himself when Kyung Seok returned to the living room. He zeroed in on him, his eyes narrowing as he approached the man lost inside himself. He came to a stop when he was a foot away, and sensing his presence, Woo Young flinched and looked up at him.

He put a hand over his heart to relay his sudden fright.

"I forgot how sneaky you can be," Woo Young said, forcing laughter.

Kyung Seok tilted his head, analyzing him, then evidently came to a conclusion.

"You're an idiot."

The smile fell from Woo Young's face.

"Wha…I-I'm sorry?"

"I said, you're an idiot. When I first met you I thought you were, then I decided you weren't. Now I realize I was wrong. You are an idiot after all."

Awkwardly, Woo Young got to his feet. Kyung Seok made no attempt to help him.

"What makes you say such things about me?"

Kyung Seok rounded the table until he was standing right beside Woo Young. He stared menacingly into his eyes for a moment and then promptly smacked him upside the back of his head.

"Ow! What the-"

"She likes you," Kyung Seok said.

Woo Young frowned and rubbed the back of his head.

"I cannot date every girl that confesses to me."

"Hyun Jung is not every girl."

"Well, no, but-"

"She is our friend."

"Yes, I know-"

"Your friend."

"Yes-"

"She is cute and funny and smart and loyal."

Woo Young sighed.

"And she likes you."

For some reason, that repetition triggered something. Woo Young looked up at him contemplatively.

"Not every great love story is love at first sight."

Woo Young let that thought sink in as Kyung Seok walked away. He sat back on the couch, mulling on it, flipping it over in his mind until he'd analyzed every piece of it. He recalled when he'd first met Hyun Jung, how she'd listened to him, hung out with him, been there for him no matter what. She's always been such a good friend to him.

He looked out onto the balcony to see Mi Rae holding Hyun Jung tightly to her.

She was cute, he realized. She was all those things that Kyung Seok had said she was. And he had missed her this past year. He'd missed her a lot. He just hadn't really stopped to think about how _much_.

Taking a deep breath, he stepped out onto the balcony.

"Hyun Jung."

Both girls turned around. He was wounded to see tears in Hyun Jung's eyes.

"I…"

Mi Rae was glaring at him.

"I would like to take you to dinner."

Surprise took over both the girls' faces.

"But we just ate," Mi Rae said, confused.

He panicked. "A…walk?"

The girls looked at each other, then back at him.

"A…friendship walk?" Hyun Jung questioned suspiciously.

"Just a walk," he said. "We can decide what kind it is when we're done."

She was taking far too long to decide in his opinion, but finally she nodded.

"Okay. Let's go."

She strode purposefully back inside and towards the front door. He could feel Mi Rae's glare on the back of his neck until they were outside the house and walking down to the street.

"Whoa-whoa, slow down, Hyun Jung."

He rushed to her, amazed that her short legs had caused him to jog to catch up with her.

She stopped suddenly and looked at him. Slight embarrassment passed over her features.

"S-sorry," she said. "I didn't realize how much I wanted to walk." She started again, still not quite slow, but at least not as fast as before.

He cleared his throat and kept in stride with her. He licked his lips, watching her. Then, without informing her, he reached for her hand and held it firmly in his own. She looked down at the embrace, eyes wide, heart pounding in her ears.

"What are you doing?" she asked, too shocked to pull away. Her legs were on autopilot, continuing to walk at exactly the same speed even though her heart was on the verge of exploding.

"I am holding your hand," he said, then smiled a little. "That is what boyfriends do, isn't it?"

She stopped abruptly, ripped her hand away, and glared up at him.

It was _cute_. Her little pout with her bangs nearly covering her eyes, and her small size facing up to his with such intimidation. He couldn't believe he'd never realized.

"What are you saying?" she demanded.

"Uh…" Now he was unsure. "I thought this was what you wanted. Don't you want me to be your boyfriend?"

She wanted to rip her hair out was what she wanted.

"Not like this!" Her volume increased.

He took a step back, shocked. "Like what?"

"You…" she whined, gesturing. "You are just doing this because you feel bad for me. You don't actually like me like I like you. You want a love at first sight. I remember that."

He sighed. She knew him. She knew him better than anyone.

"Maybe that's not the only great love story," he suggested, thanking Kyung Seok inwardly for that point.

She propped her hands on her hips.

"What do you mean?"

He slipped his hands in his pockets.

"I mean…it's hard to know if you truly love someone if you don't even know them." He paused and then met her eyes. "Right?"

She folded her arms. "Yes."

"So…" He shrugged. "Maybe you're my great love story, and I just didn't know it."

She nearly fell over. She had to fight to catch her breath.

"Are you okay?" he asked, suddenly concerned when she stumbled a little.

"I don't know," she said. Her insides were screaming. Every part of her was telling her this was good and bad all at once. "Tell me what you're saying. What do you want?"

He took a deep breath and prepared himself for any outcome that would come next.

"I would like…to take you on a date."

Her lips twitched. "Really?" she asked, her heart leaping in her throat despite herself.

"Yes," he said smiling. _She really is adorable_.

"And you want this," she said, pointing a finger at him accusingly. "You're not doing this because you don't want to hurt my feelings."

He held his hands up in surrender.

"I want this. I want this, I promise!"

Slowly, she lowered his hands, those pouty menacing lips still glaring up at him. He laughed.

"What?" she demanded. "Why are you laughing?"

His laugh receded into a smile.

"You're cute." She blinked, startled. "I wish I'd realized it sooner."

That's it. She was done. So completely done. And so _not_ over him.

She looked down at her hand and then over to his. Following her line of vision, he held out his hand to her and she took it. He wrapped his fingers around hers and smoothed his thumb over the back of her hand.

She was so giddy she could scream. She was actually pretty positive she had skipped a little in her step when they first started to walk again.

Woo Young had the strangest sensation when he looked at her next. He'd started smiling without even realizing it, when she'd skipped. Again, he'd found it so cute. And not in a friend way or even just a person way, but in a different way. And now, even with her not looking at him, with her hair falling to her waist and her slightly swinging their hands, her teeth gently biting down on her bottom, he felt it well up in his stomach until they fluttered wildly up into his chest, threatening to lift him off the ground into the warm, night air.

The butterflies.


End file.
